Ankle High at Low Tide, El Niño Still Running the Show

8 AM low tide and it is about as flat as this place gets. One foot breaking right on the sand, SW wind at 5 mph so at least it is clean, but there is nothing out there to work with. Athena did her usual inspection of the dune crossover, decided the ocean was not worth the trip, and we kept it short. September is around the corner and the surf should start waking up, but do not count on the tropics doing us any favors. This El Niño is pushing toward record territory and shear across the Atlantic basin has gotten about as strong as it gets, ACE is running roughly 80 percent below normal for mid August, and NOAA recently bumped the odds of a below average season up to 75 percent. Cristobal fizzled out, next name on the list is Dolly. Keep the longboard waxed and the expectations low. Follow @DaBuh for tropical updates.